This article sets out some tips and guidelines for using radio as part of the media mix, a resilient media with distinct benefits. View Summary

This article sets out some tips and guidelines for using radio as part of the media mix, a resilient media with distinct benefits.

Radio has several key benefits, including mass reach, targeting by particular audience or time of the day and topicality, as well as having creative flexibility and a lower entry cost than other media.

Sponsorship provides a great opportunity for brands as radio stations and presenters command high levels of loyalty.

Making good radio ads is hard, and this has been compounded by agencies that often leave radio to last in during creative development.

Looking ahead, growing digital audiences are likely to attract the attention of large tech companies and subsequently drive up audience measurement standards.

2

What we know about major media channels

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Warc Exclusive, July 2014

This article provides marketers with information and guidance on several major media channels. View Summary

This article provides marketers with information and guidance on several major media channels.

The channels include television, digital, print, radio, out of home and cinema are analysed.

Audience, effectiveness measurement and media strengths of each are detailed.

Whilst digital technology is driving sustained change, and it is vital for brands to have a digital media strategy, television maintains the largest share of consumers' media time.

Print has lost audience share but remains trusted by consumers, whilst out of home advertising has expanded to incorporate digital and mobile technology.

3

Breast Cancer Awareness by BFM: BFM-Any Time

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Warc Prize for Asian Strategy, Entrant, 2012

During Malaysia's Breast Cancer Awareness Month, BFM, a business radio station, wanted to offer its support in a way that would reach listeners who tend ignore awareness messages. View Summary

During Malaysia's Breast Cancer Awareness Month, BFM, a business radio station, wanted to offer its support in a way that would reach listeners who tend ignore awareness messages. Since breast cancer can strike without warning, the campaign inserted its awareness messages as an unexpected interruption to regular programming, seamlessly delivered by newscasters and programme hosts themselves, and read with exactly the same style of delivery as the news, daily updates and business coaching segments they were presenting. As part of a larger nationwide program, BFM's efforts contributed much to the surge of site visitors to www.cancer.org.my looking for information on breast cancer, and total searches for breast cancer increased along the Klang Valley, the footprint for BFM.

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From media research to people research? UK audience measurement in 2010

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James Aitchison, Event Reports, MRG Annual, December 2009

At the Media Research Group's 2009 annual conference, a series of 'industry update' sessions from various UK audience research bodies outlined their respective priorities, challenges and innovations for 2010. View Summary

At the Media Research Group's 2009 annual conference, a series of 'industry update' sessions from various UK audience research bodies outlined their respective priorities, challenges and innovations for 2010. This article summarises those sessions, given by BARB (TV), which is launching a new panel; RAJAR (radio), which is experimenting with online diaries; UKOM (online), which is launching an online planning currency; Postar (outdoor), which is introducing a GPS-driven travel survey; the NRS (print), which is looking to extent readership measurement to non-print sources; and the IPA's Touchpoints survey, which is now considering how to measure word of mouth.

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Today’s total audio entertainment environment: how do consumers perceive their options?

This paper addresses the key issue of how consumers, particularly young adults, perceive new audio entertainment options. View Summary

This paper addresses the key issue of how consumers, particularly young adults, perceive new audio entertainment options. It provides insight into how listeners choose their entertainment sources, the language they use to describe these choices, and how media measurement needs to adjust to accommodate these changes. Findings of a set of young adult focus groups and in-home ethnographic interviews are reviewed and results of a field experiment testing revision to the Arbitron radio diary to capture new audio sources are reported.

This paper looks at the key measurement issues currently facing a variety of different sectors of the media (online, print, radio, video etc.). View Summary

This paper looks at the key measurement issues currently facing a variety of different sectors of the media (online, print, radio, video etc.). Based on the analysis of the top three issues said to be facing each sector, it is argued that there is a reasonable degree of similarity in the challenges perceived to be facing the different formats as the world of media changes. This paper looks at these issues, and also at some of the ways in which they may be dealt with in the future.

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What does the consumer think? IRA - a media research tool understanding and programming radio

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Fabio Mariano, ESOMAR, Radio Conference, Montreal, June 2005

Poorly used by advertisers in Brazil, radio is undergoing a period of rebirth in the United States and Europe. View Summary

Poorly used by advertisers in Brazil, radio is undergoing a period of rebirth in the United States and Europe. In Brazil some new research tools have appeared and the medium is going through a process of professionalization. This study examines radio under the light of the listener and presents a research tool that contributes to the understanding of the significance of this medium and its relationship with the consumer.

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Diaries for digital delivery

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John Stockley and Tim Farmer, ESOMAR, Radio Conference, Montreal, June 2005

The growth of digital platforms like satellite and cable TV, as well as the internet, has changed listening patterns in the United Kingdom. View Summary

The growth of digital platforms like satellite and cable TV, as well as the internet, has changed listening patterns in the United Kingdom. There has also been an increase in station choice with the launch of 20 national digital only services from the BBC and commercial radio. In addition, established national analogue stations simulcast with improved signals and local analogue services have extended into new areas. Electronic measurement, when widely available, may identify listening between platforms but in the meantime we must use established methodologies like diaries. The National Radio Survey is conducted by Ipsos Media on behalf of RAJAR and provides the “gold standard” measurement of radio audiences in the United Kingdom. The main survey does not measure audiences by platform, however, this paper shows how new complementary results were provided using re-contact or “return to sample” surveys. It describes the methodologies used for two recent projects and gives examples of results and differences between listening for three main platforms.

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In-store radio. The sales implications of reach and frequency

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Rob Wolf and Craig Gugel, ESOMAR, Radio Conference, Geneva, June 2004

The authors recently analyzed the local audience delivery patterns of a national television, magazine and IBN in-store radio buy in concert with a local broadcast radio schedule in 25 top Nielsen DMAs. View Summary

The authors recently analyzed the local audience delivery patterns of a national television, magazine and IBN in-store radio buy in concert with a local broadcast radio schedule in 25 top Nielsen DMAs. The purpose of the analysis was to identify the extent to which the exclusive reach added by the IBN component contributed to ROI by augmenting campaign reach in important sales volume areas. This paper briefly outlines some of the more significant changes that the retail grocery industry faces as the venue evolves into a retail 'advertainment' environment. It then highlights the impact of adding an IBN in-store radio schedule to two, three and four-media combination plans and provides rationale for how in-store media sales professionals can begin to break the planning barrier at major U.S. media agencies.

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Radio zapping

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Nick North and Lex van Meurs, ESOMAR, Radio Conference, Geneva, June 2004

This paper reports on switching during radio advertising, based on analysis of GfK Media GB’s survey of radio listening and television viewing, commissioned by The Wireless Group using Radiocontrol audience measurement technology. View Summary

This paper reports on switching during radio advertising, based on analysis of GfK Media GB’s survey of radio listening and television viewing, commissioned by The Wireless Group using Radiocontrol audience measurement technology. Bringing the minute-by-minute audience research data collected by Radiocontrol together with commercial monitoring data creates an opportunity to improve our understanding of radio zapping; to quantify the relative likelihood to switch radio stations during commercial breaks; and to gauge the impact of switching on radio advertising delivery. Measuring both radio and television in a single survey produces comparisons between radio and TV zapping, and a report on cross-media switching.

11

Give us this day our daily effect

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Karin Schut and John Faasse, ESOMAR, Radio Conference, Geneva, June 2004

This paper focuses on how radio reach builds up. When do our listeners start to recognise radio spots? After how many days of airing, after how many times of hearing? The results are based on a telephone survey among 3,889 radio listeners and show us the day-by-day reach of campaigns. View Summary

This paper focuses on how radio reach builds up. When do our listeners start to recognise radio spots? After how many days of airing, after how many times of hearing? The results are based on a telephone survey among 3,889 radio listeners and show us the day-by-day reach of campaigns. For each respondent, we calculated the number of times he or she heard the radio spot before the survey and related this to recognition of the campaign. In this way it was possible to calculate the ‘optimal’ frequency level of radio campaigns.

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Radio’s unique contribution to the media mix according to PPM’s 'real' cross-media measurement

This investigation identifies the planning/selling situations where radio contributes substantially to the media mix. View Summary

This investigation identifies the planning/selling situations where radio contributes substantially to the media mix. “Real” unified cross-media information from Arbitron’s Portable People Meter (PPM) data provide the input and Stone House Systems’ analytics provide the optimization and duplication estimates. The output points to opportunities where radio can powerfully complement television to reach specific targets with a variety of communications plans. Results from Philadelphia (United States) show that radio can contribute over 20% of unique share to total reach over a range of targets and plan levels, both for condensed, simpler media plans and for diverse/dispersed plans. This investigation also shows that disparate databases and random estimation are no substitute for the real thing: near-passive, 'real' crossmedia information such as that provided by the Portable People Meter.

13

Radio audience diaries? 'This parrot is deceased!'

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Tony Jarvis, Admap, March 2004, Issue 448, pp. 34-35

In this rejoinder to Paul Kennedy of RAJAR (Admap, October 2003), Tony Jarvis, MediaCom/Grey Global Group, argues for electronic measurement of radio audiences rather than diaries. View Summary

In this rejoinder to Paul Kennedy of RAJAR (Admap, October 2003), Tony Jarvis, MediaCom/Grey Global Group, argues for electronic measurement of radio audiences rather than diaries. He produces a strong case for audiometers and particularly favours Arbitron’s PPM (passive, personal, portable meter).

Paul Kennedy, RAJAR, discusses the various ways of measuring radio audiences - day-after-recall, diaries and audiometers. He explains that, despite the apparent appeal of audiometers (the Radiocontrol wristwatch, and the Arbitron portable people meter are described), RAJAR and other industry bodies still favour diaries - at least for the time being.

The subject of this paper is the launch of the first-ever national survey using electronic measurement of radio audiences in the United Kingdom. View Summary

The subject of this paper is the launch of the first-ever national survey using electronic measurement of radio audiences in the United Kingdom. All over the world, the research community is discussing the impact of electronic measurement on the radio market. The Wireless Group will share its experiences with the research community by giving an insight into the results of two research projects and an update on the launch of a survey conducted by GfK Media of national radio stations in March.

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Media Outlook 2002: Radio

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Rhonda Munk, ANA Magazine, April 2002

This paper on radio advertising presents figures that show that news radio increased its audience throughout the fall of 2001. View Summary

This paper on radio advertising presents figures that show that news radio increased its audience throughout the fall of 2001. A study includes information showing that there is a greater understanding of the medium. The paper emphasises the stability of ownership of radio and how network radio has increased advertising from new important categories.

This paper presents the first cross-media results from Arbitron's Portable People Meter trial in the Wilmington Radio Metro portion of the Philadelphia DMA. View Summary

This paper presents the first cross-media results from Arbitron's Portable People Meter trial in the Wilmington Radio Metro portion of the Philadelphia DMA. Early data from the small-scale panel of 250 persons suggest important variations in cross-media duplication between radio and television - both by daypart and by demo. In particular, Persons 35+ show greater exclusive loyalty to television than younger persons in both morning and evening dayparts. Conversely, Persons 18 - 34 show somewhat higher cross-media, radio-TV duplication than the older panelists. These results suggest that differentiated cross-media planning for demos and times could improve the effectiveness and efficiency of buying and of bottom-line ROI. Moreover, PPM'S actual multi-week reach accumulation could put radio on par with current TV planning, where reach is considered on the basis of build through consecutive weeks and through different vehicle combinations. Results also point to methods-related issues, such as audience definition, that will require further research, industry discussion, and analysis of the unique, potentially beneficial approach of Portable People Meter measurement. The debates that PPM inspires could impact the relative levels of audience delivery which in turn affect the business of media as well as advertisers' expectations of media's ROL Thus PPM provides the occasion for revisiting the essential issues of media business.

Switzerland is the first and, as of now, only country in which radio listening is not established by interviews but rather electronically. View Summary

Switzerland is the first and, as of now, only country in which radio listening is not established by interviews but rather electronically. The Radiocontrol (RC) technique is based on audio comparison and has been delivering official radio data since January 2001. Previously 22,000 people were recruited by random quota sampling. Radiocontrol presents the radio world in a different light. Radio is far more than an accompaniment through the day. Media events such as the election of the Federal Council, for example, are reflected in the newly established data and show how listeners also use that medium selectively.

This paper describes the development of a new multiple week reach model for Dutch radio data. The new reach formula has been developed to solve the inconsistency between available radio data that describe average week results and radio campaigns consisting of three to eight weeks of advertising. View Summary

This paper describes the development of a new multiple week reach model for Dutch radio data. The new reach formula has been developed to solve the inconsistency between available radio data that describe average week results and radio campaigns consisting of three to eight weeks of advertising. The result of the conducted research is a formula that enables an accurate evaluation of the reach and frequency of multiple week radio campaigns based on multiple observations in radio research. Most of today's radio research can deliver only limited data on the listening behaviour of radio audiences. Because of the constraints of methods, data covering more than one week of the radio life of respondents are rare. But radio-advertising campaigns tend to stretch out between three to eight weeks. To solve this inconsistency a new multiple week reach model for the Dutch market has been developed. This paper describes the process and results of developing this new reach calculation. An actual live case from a user perspective is included in this paper.

This paper focuses on two aspects of the radio measurement problem: the environment in which the study is carried out and the characteristics of the methodologies developed and tested by researchers in Poland and elsewhere. View Summary

This paper focuses on two aspects of the radio measurement problem: the environment in which the study is carried out and the characteristics of the methodologies developed and tested by researchers in Poland and elsewhere. In the first part of the paper, the market is described in terms of population size and density, recent history of the radio market and the size and structure of advertising expenditures in Poland. The available techniques of radio audience measurement are also examined within this context. The second part of the paper presents key findings of comparisons between different methods of data collection and their possible impact on the competitive position of radio among other media.

Response rates are among the hottest topics in the research industry. Panel research, in particular, is directly confronted with the effects of declining response rates. View Summary

Response rates are among the hottest topics in the research industry. Panel research, in particular, is directly confronted with the effects of declining response rates. In the Netherlands, one of the hardest groups to get co-operation from is young people. This paper focuses on attempts to raise response rates of diary research among groups aged 18 - 29 years. It presents results of a number of tests performed in the Dutch radio diary panel. This paper analyses the relevant factors influencing response rates and the effect of motivational calls during the fieldwork period, reminder cards, and specific incentives. The possibilities of an interesting innovation, the e-Diary, are discussed.

22

It Can't Go On Like This Much Longer

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Bob Hulks, Admap, February 2001, Issue 414

Argues that the current structure of industry media research (as done through the JICs) is becoming increasingly irrelevant and must change. View Summary

Argues that the current structure of industry media research (as done through the JICs) is becoming increasingly irrelevant and must change. The fundamental questions facing advertisers concern total communications effectiveness. Industry media research contributes little to this; it provides a buying/selling currency for each medium, but cannot put them together, and provides no data on advertising results. This explains the 'almost complete lack of interest in media research as a topic among the advertising community'. But if media research is no more than a means of making planning and buying accountable, this could be done much more simply and cheaply, releasing funds for addressing the more crucial research issues (e.g. assessing the effectiveness of alternative media strategies, or the synergies obtainable through different channels). Yet the new BARB and NRS contracts have continued to specify data at a level of detail that nobody uses and makes little commercial sense, while the Internet is served by three services all of which have a different measurement approach and are striving to produce acceptable audience data through panels of users. There is a crying need for the industry to step back and review what research is required to meet fundamental business needs. A simple common currency for each medium needs much less detail than we currently have: analytical techniques are available to model audience characteristics, and these should be good enough for media owners and planners, as they are for most marketing companies. Money thus released should be applied to exploring advertising and media usage issues (e.g. on the lines of the valuable J. Walter Thompson `Peoples' Use of Media' studies of the 1970s). The real crisis is that no-one seems to realise that there is a crisis. If such a review is not done soon, the industry research will become increasingly side-lined as both the media agencies and their researchers increasingly turn their attention to advertising effects, media usage and environment effects, and new data sources such as Tn Sofres' Media Span and TV Span single-source panels, and a more Europe-centred focus.

23

Radio Reaches Your Consumer - Now!

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Kraig Kitchin and Reny Leutz, ANA Magazine, Nov 2000

This article provides a comprehensive review of commercial radio in the USA in the year 2000. The authors comment on recent changes, and opportunities for advertisers in the future.

The radio market in the UK is booming with the growth of new stations in both the commercial and public sectors and the growing importance of radio as an advertising medium. View Summary

The radio market in the UK is booming with the growth of new stations in both the commercial and public sectors and the growing importance of radio as an advertising medium. This paper reviews how radio audience research has been developed and refined, particularly since the inception of commercial radio, to allow for greater accountability in this dynamic marketplace. The final section of the paper looks to the future and discusses potential methods of dealing with the continued growth in the number of radio stations available and the new methods of delivery such as digital broadcasting and the internet. Although reference is made to methodologies used in other countries, the paper concentrates on the UK market, where development work has been ongoing over the past 30 years.

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Radio Research for the 21st Century. 'Going Live'

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Kristian Jenkins, ESOMAR, Radio on the World Stage, Boston, June 1999

This paper describes the testing and implementation of the new RAJAR audience research contract in the United Kingdom.